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20
Declan pacedthe hospital waiting room, his mind churning, panic still twisting in his gut hours after he’d climbed into the ambulance with Kate. Ronan sat next to Julia, John Thomas asleep in his stroller, while Alexa dozed on Nick’s shoulder. Nick was saying something Declan couldn’t hear to Elise, who sat on his otherside.
Aiden hadn’t left Annie’s side, both of them pale, faces drawn with worry, while Beth paced the other side of the room, a manic light in hereyes.
Griffin sat with Declan’s dad, his small head leaning on Thomas Murphy’s shoulder. Declan had soothed Griff’s fear when he arrived at the hospital with Annie, reassuring him that Kate would be okay, but they were words Declan hated tosay.
It was the one and only time he could remember making a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep. Looking into his son’s eyes, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to say anythingelse.
Thomas Murphy and Griffin stood. “We’re going to get some drinks and snacks for everyone,” he said to Declan. “Anyrequests?”
“Whatever you get is fine.” He rested his hand on Griff’s head. “You doing okay,buddy?”
“When can I seeMommy?”
“Soon,” Declan said. “We have to wait for the doctor to say it’sokay.”
“Let’s see if we can get something for your mom too,” Declan’s dad said, taking Griff’s hand in his. “I think she’d like that, don’tyou?”
Griffinnodded.
Declan’s dad placed a hand on Declan’s shoulder as they passed. He’d never been more grateful for his father’s quiet, steady presence. He’d been dealt a shitty hand with the death of Declan’s mother followed by Erin’s overdose. He and Declan had had their differences over the years — that tended to happen when you worked for the police department and had sons who were criminals — but he’d always beenthere.
And it was obvious his dad wasn’t the only one. The overflowing waiting room was proof that Declan and Kate weren’t alone, that there were people to catch their fall. It was a privilege he didn’t take lightly after the dark years when he’d felt so alone, when he and Ronan and Nick had gone days without speaking to each other, when they’d gone weeks without speaking to theirfather.
It was a responsibility too. He loved every one of the people in this room, and he realized everything he did impacted them in some way or another. Everything he did had the potential to hurt or harmthem.
It wasn’t something he could think too hard about with Kate fighting for herlife.
Images flashed in his mind: the empty brownstone in Beacon Hill, the frantic drive to Marblehead, the dead guards in front of the gate, the one at the foot of thestairs.
He’d reached the top of the staircase just as the shadowed figure at the end of the hall turned into Beth’s bedroom. His body had been flooded with terror unlike anything he’d ever known when gunfire sounded from inside the room a secondlater.
After that it was a blur — the rush to the bedroom, the man advancing into the room, the shot Declan had fired into the man’sskull.
And Kate, on the floor, bleeding from her sternum, Beth bent over Kate’s pronebody.
His attention was brought to Kate’s mom as she stood, her eyes focused on something behindDeclan.
A doctor in scrubs was approaching down the long, sterilehall.
Annie hurried toward the doctor. She took Declan’s hand in hers and squeezed, and in that moment Declan had never been more grateful for Annie Walsh. It had been a long time since a woman had grasped his hand with motherlyreassurance.
“How is she?” Kate’s mom asked thedoctor.
“Are you Ann Walsh, Kate’s medical proxy?” the doctorasked.
She nodded. “But this is Kate’s brother and her… husband. You can tell me everything in front ofthem.”
The word husband — likely used by Annie to simplify the exchange with the doctor — was a beacon of hope in Declan’schest.
That’s what I want. To be Kate Walsh’s husband. To make her my wife. To live with her every day of my life and make sure no one ever hurts heragain.
“She was very lucky,” the doctor said. “The bullet wound was within two millimeters of her right lung. There was some internal bleeding, but we managed to stop it and remove thebullet.”
“Thank god,” Anniesaid.
“So she’ll be okay?” Aidenasked.
